


Best Friends

by ProtoNeoRomantic



Series: Patch Works [5]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Anger, Clueless Xander, F/F, F/M, Friends fighting, Friendship, Gen, Ghosts, Grief/Mourning, High School, Loss, Mopey Buffy, Murder-Suicide, Other, Willow Queen of Denial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-14 05:32:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1254754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProtoNeoRomantic/pseuds/ProtoNeoRomantic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the Sadie Hawkins Dance approached and anguished spirits continue to plague Sunnydale High, tensions are running high among the Scooby Core, especially when it comes to everyone's new relationships.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Lady's Choice](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1223416) by [ProtoNeoRomantic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProtoNeoRomantic/pseuds/ProtoNeoRomantic). 



“Here we go,” said Willow in the kind of cheerfully encouraging tone you use when your spoon feeding a baby. “It says here that this teacher, Ms. Newman was killed by a student, James Stanley on the night of the Sadie Hawkins Dance in 1955.”

Buffy roused just a little from her semi-catatonic trance, “That actually makes sense,” she mumble. “I saw them in my vision, he broke into the school. She seemed scared of him.”

“So what happened to him?” Xander asked.

“Oh,” said Willow glumly, “He shot himself. The rumor was they were having an affair and she tried to break it off.”

“Life and love in Hellmouth City,” said Buffy bitterly, “He couldn’t have her, so he killed her. The least he could have done was stick around to go to prison, the coward.”

“Wow,” said Xander, “the quality of mercy is not Buffy.”

Willow gave him a look. Buffy had enough people piling their emotional crap on her right now, dead and alive. “So whose ghost do you think it is?” she asked, trying to keep things moving past the emotion Black Hole that kept threatening to suck everybody in. “His or hers?”

“Based on how violent it is?” Buffy reasoned, “I’m going to say his.”

“We should talk to Amy,” Willow suggested. “She may know a way to contact the spirit and find out what he wants.”

“Yeah,” Xander scoffed, “she’d really gonna be a lot of help.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Willow demanded.

“Amy has pretty much made it clear what she thinks of us,” Buffy said. “Yesterday she threatened to tell the whole school about Giles and me.”

“What?” said Willow. “Amy wouldn’t do that.”

“No,” said Xander sarcastically, “Buffy’s lying to you(!) About this? Come on.”

“You...must have misunderstood her,” Willow insisted.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter,” said Buffy trying to move forward, “we know what he wants. He wants forgiveness, which he can’t have because he killed the person he wants to forgive him. Poetic justice really, for him, not for her.  God this is all just so pointless!”

"No," Xander reminded her, "there's a point.  The point is to stop any more people from killing each other, remember.  We need Giles for that.  Or someone who knows what they're doing, someone we can trust... with magic anyway."

“Now wait just a minute,” Willow countered. “I don’t want my three best friends thinking they can’t trust each other!”

“ _Three_ best friends?” said Xander, shocked.

“She’s bestfriendly now?” asked Buffy skeptically.

“Yeah,” said Willow defiantly, more surely than she really felt. “She is. I mean, Amy has been there for me. And you guys... I know you wanted to and you couldn't, but that doesn't change the fact that you weren't... and I need someone in my life that doesn't have some other huge commitment or destiny or tragic romantic saga going on all the time that always has to come before I do. Someone who can be there to...to...”

“Charge up your dead father’s credit cards and toy with your...’emotions’?” Xander challenged.

“HEY!” Willow all but shouted.  "Self-Righteous much!"

“Woe,” said Buffy, “I think we all need to just—”

“What would you know about it?” Willow shot back, “Either of you? You don’t know what it’s like to lose someone who means that much to you and to be... all alone with that.”

“Wait, What?” Buffy demanded. “I don’t know what it’s like to lose someone?”

“It’s not the same thing,” Willow tried to explain. “And by the way, Xander, does Cordelia do anything for you besides the spending and the toying, because that would be kind of a surprise!”

“How is it not the same thing?” Buffy challenged “I _loved_ him and now he’s gone forever and the demon who wears his face is going around killing people and ruining all our lives, so don’t you dare tell me I don’t know what it’s like to lose someone!”

“Alright!” said Willow, “You’re right; I’m wrong. We, all know about loss, and guilt and bad decisions, it’s not a contest! But Amy is important to me and if you guys care about my feelings, you’ll try to get along with her, okay?”

“Fine,” Said Buffy tensely, maybe half mollified. “Ask her, see what she says.”

“I just want to go on record,” Xander persisted, “as saying this is a bad idea, and what bad decisions of mine are we talking about exactly?” Both girls made small noises of derision at that. “Seriously,” said Xander defensively, “What?”

 


End file.
